Canadian Pacific names Creel president and COO; reaches settlement with CN

Canadian Pacific named Keith Creel president and chief operating officer effective February 5, 2013. E. Hunter Harrison, former chief executive officer of Canadian National, will remain CEO of CP.

Creel previously served as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Canadian National. Reporting to Creel will be Jane O'Hagan, EVP & CMO, Scott MacDonald, SVP Operations System, Guido De Ciccio, SVP Canadian Operations and Doug McFarlane, SVP US Operations.

"Keith joins CP after a very successful operating career where he rose from a management trainee in the operations department at Burlington Northern in 1992 to becoming EVP & COO at CN in 2010," said E. Hunter Harrison, CP's CEO. "I have worked with many talented operating people in this industry over the last four decades and Keith is by far one of the best young operating talents that I have ever seen," continued Harrison. "Canadian Pacific recently began its transformational journey to becoming the best railroad in North America and we look forward to benefiting from Keith's strong leadership and operational expertise as we move forward."

In other news, CN reached a settlement with CP and Harrison that ends outstanding litigation between the railroads before the Federal Court in Chicago, Ill. The majority of the settlement terms remain confidential. However, part of the settlement made public states that CP will not hire certain CN employees until Dec. 31, 2016.

Regarding Creel's move to CP and the news of the settlement, CN CEO Claude Mongeau said, "We wish Keith success in his new role and are pleased to turn the page with respect to the matter of CP's hiring of CN's former CEO, Hunter Harrison. The settlement arrived at will allow CN and CP to focus on their respective agendas and create value for their customers and shareholders."